While

While Oklahoma Natural Gas’ (ONG) appeal of the OklahomaCorporation Commission’s interim order unbundling its upstreamsystem winds its way through court, the OCC has turned to Arkla andthe unbundling of its downstream system. Arkla will have its fourthopen meeting with the commission and other interested parties Nov.17. OCC Commissioner Bob Anthony is enthusiastic about how thingshave gone so far. “They [Arkla] have not just claimedconfidentiality on everything. It’s been very open and detailed. Idon’t normally go around bragging about utilities. I’ve asked somestaff people if everything’s operating in good faith and they’vegiven me some encouragement.”

While Oklahoma Natural Gas’ (ONG) appeal of the OklahomaCorporation Commission’s interim order unbundling its upstreamsystem winds its way through court, the OCC has turned to Arkla andthe unbundling of its downstream system. Arkla will have its fourthopen meeting with the commission and other interested parties Nov.17. OCC Commissioner Bob Anthony is enthusiastic about how thingshave gone so far. “They [Arkla] have not just claimedconfidentiality on everything. It’s been very open and detailed. Idon’t normally go around bragging about utilities. I’ve asked somestaff people if everything’s operating in good faith and they’vegiven me some encouragement.”

While Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was visiting Venezuelaand Mexico last week, DOE issued a list of 20 new appointments hehas made at the agency, which are in addition to the seven alreadyannounced in his six weeks on the job.

In what a few sources described as some of the quietest tradingthey had seen in quite a while, cash quotes fell anywhere from 2cents to a dime or so at Eastern points Monday. In contrast,numbers were generally flat to slightly higher for the Rockies,Southwest basins, California and intra-Alberta.

While the FERC last week handed the Gas Industry Standards Board(GISB) a much-desired extension of the pipeline industry’s move tothe Internet, a heated debate erupted at the standards-settinggroup’s annual board meeting about whether the Commission wasasking it to tackle standardizing subjects that were “out of thescope” of its role.

While neighboring LDC Oklahoma Natural Gas continues its attemptto stave off unbundling, Arkla moved forward last week with acollaborative process involving stakeholders that is intended toproduce a downstream unbundling plan next April with full retailcompetition by October 1999.

Shell Oil has become a significant player in the midstream gasbusiness, but this wasn’t always so. While the company heldmidstream gas assets, they were operated as an adjunct to its oilbusiness. That was until deregulation and new market entrantssuggested to Shell it ought to get into the midstream.

While efforts to deregulate the electric industry at both thestate and federal level drag on, at least one internationalobserver found U.S. gas deregulation worthy of praise. RobertPriddle, executive director of the International Energy Agency(IEA) in Paris, told reporters at the 17th Congress of the WorldEnergy Council that the United States leads the world in gascompetition.

While efforts to deregulate the electric industry at both thestate and federal level drag on, at least one internationalobserver found U.S. gas deregulation worthy of praise. RobertPriddle, executive director of the International Energy Agency(IEA) in Paris, told reporters at the 17th Congress of the WorldEnergy Council that the United States leads the world in gascompetition. Priddle said he is heartened by the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission’s (FERC) decision to review pipeline rateregulation. Priddle gave his talk to highlight findings of theIEA’s report card on U.S. energy policy. The findings stem from a1998 review and are published by the agency in a 152-page book.